


Strawberry Muffins

by Kosei



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime), Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Baking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, Literally Furries, M/M, One Shot, Silverwolf watches over the boyfriends, X is a Lynx, X is stressed out, Zero is a wolf, just a short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27020686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kosei/pseuds/Kosei
Summary: It's hard being a Beastman outside of Anima City every day, and even harder to pretend to be human. X needs some stress relief, and where better than his golden-furred boyfriend?
Relationships: X/Zero (Rockman)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Strawberry Muffins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarryOfThy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryOfThy/gifts).



> Happy Belated Birthday Starry!!! mwah mwah! <3

X fished a coin from his pocket and placed it in a jar underneath their statue of Silverwolf.  
"Thank you for protecting me today," he sighed. Silverwolf didn't respond. The gems in his eyes glinted, sparkling with the light from the living room. They seemed to read,  
"Thanks for the money sucker."  
What Silverwolf didn't know is that money was going to be used if they had a rainy day. 

He slipped off his heavy winter jacket and dropped it on the hook of the coat rack. He bent down, taking off his shiny loafers, and placed them by the door where they would wait until tomorrow morning. 

With the absence of his coat, he was still warm, he was wearing his favorite blue sweater. The one with the blue scarved penguins circling him. It made him feel cozy, it was a nice change of pace from cold and miserable. Which he was a little, his back still ached painfully from sitting at a desk all day. He stretched back, wincing as it opped. he was way too young to have back issues... 

He slid the door open to the living room. He was greeted by the scent of food. His nose unwillingly twitched. He smelt the air deeply, it was warm and sweet...

“Zero?” He called, “Are you making something?” 

Zero swore and poked his head out. His long blond hair, normally in a high ponytail, was tied in a large bun. Silvery strands of golden hair struck out in curls and loops, messily put together. The light pink apron they had was stained in the front, and his eyes were hard to see behind the glint on his wide-rimmed glasses. He looked cute like this. It was so different from the angry glare, the black leather jacket, and the ponytail high on his head. A look that radiated confidence, unlike how he was now flustered. Well, he still had the collar around his neck, he supposed. 

He just looked cute. That was how he put it. Although it did make him even more curious about what he was doing. “Are you… Making something?”

“Trying to.” He responded, wiping his hands on the apron. “It was supposed to be done before you came home.” 

X blinked, his feathery ears twitching once, twice, “Why’s that?”

Zero sucked in a breath, turning a faint shade of pink. 

“...You’ve been struggling a lot lately. I wanted to make up for that with something,” he scowled, and X could imagine his ears and tail drooping. “Didn’t work out. I’ve used all the damn flour in the house trying to make these muffins taste good.”

“Muffins?” he brightened. Zero looked uncomfortable and turned slightly. 

“Strawberry.” 

“My favorite,” He felt himself at ease, letting go of his human form, and relaxing into what felt more natural. His fingers furred, the tips of his finger pink like a paw. His face furred, gently warming his face. Ah, humans… Their forms were so cold all the time… All the stress from his body melted away, and he leaped, embracing Zero, who was suddenly a golden-colored wolf. His blue eyes were sharper, brighter. He let out a loud exhale and pressed his black, wet nose into his fur. It tickled, X felt his tail involuntary swish and ears flicker. A giggle from the back of his throat bubbled up and he almost squirmed. 

Zero sniffed deeply, drinking in his scent. He trailed down from his forehead and pressed his nose against his neck. X flinched, ticklish,  
“Zero, stop, you know I'm sensitive there!” he tone turned into a whine. 

Zero chuckled warmly and pressed into his neck again, he let out a squeal, playfully squirming in his arms. The look Zero was giving him made his heart fluttered and he couldn't stop smiling.  
His green eyes flickered to behind him, staring into his kitchen and the open window. 

His heart sunk, nearly stopping in his chest. 

“...Zero… The blinds are open.”

Zero stiffened, and quickly let go of him, he was quickly transforming, but if anyone saw they would have seen bits of long hair on his arms and face. He quickly shut the window and roughly tugged the blinds shut. He turned back to X, already in the middle of an apology. 

“I forgot- the muffins were burning earlier and I opened the window-”

“It’s fine,” X quickly assured him. It’s just… A precaution. I know no one will see us-”

“But it isn’t worth losing peace of mind. Especially when you pretend to be a human all day, “ his eyes narrowed. 

X bit his tongue or else he would shout. he couldn’t keep his anger down when he thought about it. But he knew he needed to keep his anger down. He couldn’t afford to let his emotions getting the best of him. Being too happy, sad, angry, frustrated, the more the stress piled on the easier it was for him to make the smallest slip. Too much hair where he shouldn’t have it. Fur peaking fro where his tail was, ears where there shouldn't be... Never mind just being fired, he would be chased out of the city…

He took a deep breath, returning to reality. X bit his lip, avoiding Zero’s gaze. He hesitated for a moment, and Zero took off his round-rimmed glasses.

“...Sit on the couch for a moment. I’ll be there in a moment. And in 15 minutes, we can dig in.” he disappeared and X sat his butt on the couch, taking in how utterly exhausted he was. 

X closed his eyes, softly relaxing into the clothed seat, it was so soft… Worn with time. Well-loved, it was an old seat, but a nice one. Not that it mattered. He imagined life, life when he could finally afford to move to Anima City. A paradise, where he could be free. He didn’t have to hold back his emotions, he didn’t have to spend day after day, managing their budgets, living by meager amounts so they could save. Where they didn’t have to hide their Silverwolf statue behind the shoe rack when they had guests, and vacuum so there wasn’t even a piece of hair when they had no pets. 

Not that anyone came to visit besides the occasional maintenance worker. But that hardly mattered when a very astute observation could lead into... their murder. 

X shuddered, burying his face into his pillow. When he thought like that he had to suppress the urge of being human. To rest in a body that was uncomfortable being in after hours of just sitting in an office chair and staring at a screen. He wanted to run, run like the wild and untamed animal his ancestors once were. He wanted to live in a world where he could do those things. Anima City would be where he could live peacefully. With people who understood him and his struggles. 

He had to endure, he had to keep going…

He opened his eyes when the scent of something delicious was too much. Zero licked his cheek and he recoiled, his cat-like ears and tail standing on end.

“Zero!”

“You seemed to be thinking about something, I was just bringing you back to reality.” The golden wolf smirked. 

The lynx huffed back, he fixed the fur on his face, smoothing the wet fur back. His markings settled back into place and were easier to see. “Very funny,” he said dryly.

“And I brought these.” He set down a plate of muffins, each was cut in half and smoothed with butter that had quickly melted. The way X loved them. His eyes lit up, and he felt the stress melting off his shoulders when he took that first delectable bite, swooning. The reaction only embarrassed Zero.

“That good?”

“Amazing…” 

“Is was worth it then huh~?" he playfully nipped at his neck and X laughed.

“Stop it- I’m trying to eat!” he shoved a pillow in his face. Zero laid back with a huff, and X devoured the muffin. The strawberries were sweet, and the butter was slightly salted, the balance was heavenly. He forgot about his stress-

Ouch.

His ears sunk slightly. It tasted more bitter now that he did remember it. He wanted to hurt himself for ruining the good mood. Zero sniffed the air and narrowed in on him, X caught a glimpse of his long nails as he pushed away from the pillow.

“What?” he asked.

“You were happy just now and now you’re not.”

“...” he chewed, and swallowed. “I got to thinking about everything again and that really… ruined the mood for me I suppose." he tried to keep a happy persona, but his ears ruined it, revealing his sullen demeanor. "...My big mouth right? hehe..."

He wasn’t amused, blinking blankly at him, "Don’t hehe me. You aren’t looking so hot.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t take it like that you know exactly what I mean. It’s okay to be struggling, X.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s like you said, we shouldn’t talk about it.”

“X, if we don’t, you’re… I’m worried you could have… an outburst at work, and then…” he took a deep breath. “I would be lost without you. It sounds selfish, to think about me in a situation like that, but- fuck…” Zero cursed.  
“...you’re the only one I have. My parents don’t give a shit about me, you’re the only one who does in this damned awful city. If you were lucky enough even, to run away. How long would it be- before we would meet again?”

X stared.

“...I know it sounds selfish.”

“No, no you’re right. About, about all of it. I just, I really… don’t even know how to put any of it into words, to be honest with you.” 

“That’s fine.” his ears twitched, tapping on his head. “But I'm worried about you. I, it's okay to talk to me. You... know that right?"

“I know it’s unhealthy… to hold it all back. But Zero… what other chance- what other choice do I have? I… don’t have any other choices, do I? You’re the only one who understands me, and no one else possibly could… It’s not their fault. Some of them, they don’t hate beastmen. They just don’t understand us. To see animals stand on their hind legs and act human, because… we are human, to them it’s strange..we aren’t animals like how they own dogs and cats. But they just- they don’t get it. They can’t understand us. We can’t be seen in public, and they can’t possibly know the struggles we go through…”

“Got that right about them not understanding us…” he said bitterly. “We can’t even hold hands in public sometimes with all the dirty looks they give us.” He got up from the couch, his golden fur unraveling into his long sweeping locks. He pinched open the blinds and the human stared at the others down below. Glaring as they offended him by going on with their day.

“How about they mind their fucking business? If they would shut up, and just- I don’t know, looked away I could wear the collar you gave me more often. “ he closed the blinds and felt his neck, smoothing his clawed fingers over the smooth metal of the hanging tag.

X blushed, “ I went down the pet store and got it engraved as a joke.” It was never meant to be worn for real.

“Hm.” Zero smirked, “I like belonging to you.”

“S-shush, you dirty-minded-” Zero caught the pillow with a thump. X exhaled a thought that had been on his mind for a while. “You hate them even though they didn’t do anything to you.”

“I don’t need to,” the response was automatic. “Thousands of years of senseless murder and violence. Do… I need a greater reason to hate them?”

“No, no you don’t. But I can’t shake the feeling, that’s the wrong way to look at it. The hate is just dividing us more and more… And I want them to understand us, I want to live in harmony so badly, and there are going to people out there who never do, they don’t want to, they have ideas about us and it’s because of those ideas we can’t even go out in public without so many stares- without the threat of being chased out of our homes!” X is yelling in frustration, his emerald eyes wetted with tears and matted his fur. 

It smelt like salt.

Zero licked it away again. He tasted salty, and X didn’t complain. He lent himself to Zero’s arms, he pets his back gently, soothing the lynx, he tried to force down tears again, tried to suppress who he was, and how he was feeling. 

“Let it out,” Zero whispered.

“Zero…”

“You don’t need to hold anything back. Cry all you want…”

He shivered. X felt so small in Zero’s arms, like a small child to a parent. He didn’t know what it was like, to be protected like that. Protected in a way that ran so deeply through the blood of the beastmen and the humans before you. No, that was the wrong way about it. Protecting your young was something that was weaved into the hearts and minds of every species on the planet. 

It depressed him. He never felt something like that. But he felt protected when he was with Zero. The sharp bites of the wolf’s jaw could disperse any harassment. His blue-eyes gaze could be soft and warm like the glistening beads of a waterfall. could be cold, and frosted, exactly like ice that grew over a windowpane. He knows in him he could be protected. But not all beastmen could be protected. The tears rolled down his cheeks at full force. Zero laid on him on the couch, his full weight pressed into the lynx-like a weighted blanket. Hiccuping cries filled the air, 

“There is no reason why we can not live in peace...” Zero said, hushed. His voice to his ear. “Our resentment of each other has been built of too many wars, hatted, misunderstanding. We both know, the history of our kind, is the history of our oppression throughout every age. “

“What can we do to fix it…?”

“It... There doesn’t seem to be a way. If you could turn human into beastmen maybe, then if they lived how we did they could understand. How it hurts to tuck your tails away from sight… How it’s so tiring… I’m lucky enough, I work away from people. You’re around them all day… You get breaks only during bathrooms and lunch."

They were spent alone, away from where people would see him eat with his long sharp teeth and dig into a sandwich like a wounded animal, desperate for any energy to hold him out until the end of the day.

X… you’re so strong to get through this. You’re so strong to be so kind to humans when they talk about how vile your kind is. How my kind is. Who we are, how revolting we are. We are not human, just mangled beasts, mutations that have gone too far. But we know differently. "

He didn't feel strong.

"But..." He gulped. "Will there ever be a time, years, decades, centuries… where we get along… and are in perfect harmony…”

“I don’t know. I don’t know… if it’s possible. But we have to believe… there’s a chance right…? Or otherwise… What kind of world do we exist in?”

“..." X nodded in his shoulder. “I will believe.”

“Anima City sounds like a dream when we’re slaving everyday huh?” Zero chuckled humorlessly, but, surprisingly, X smiled.

“Anime City is why I have hope. Maybe, one day they’ll let humans inside. That’s a way… where they could understand each other, better than any other method…”

“I see your point. But it would be upsetting to see them walking about like they own the place made for us…”

“That’s how they think… isn’t it? We’re violating their… space.”

Zero blinked a moment. 

“I see.”

“...” the lynx closed his eyes and pressed into Zero's chest. “I…” his tail curled, swishing slightly. “I do feel a lot better now. Thank… Thank you Zero. For talking with me like this. “

“I didn’t do much. I sort of… Made things worse by arguing with you.”

“No, no, if you were… human, you could have been arguing against me. That this is just…. How the world is… That we’re doomed to this fate. But you’re hopeful, like me. You see in the injustice in it. Zero, in a world where there is only human… where I can’t even find another beastmen on the internet, it’s like fate…. That we were able to meet."

Zero exhaled from his nose. “It’s not that big of a deal… I just…” if he were human, his cheeks would be ink. “I was just able to smell you is all. “

“It’s not every day you smell a beastmen.”

“You’re right. I’ve… never smelt one besides you. It does feel a little like fate, but I don’t believe in stuff like that,” he scoffed.

X quirked an eyebrow, “how could it not be? That we got along so great..” they were friends, well, acquaintances. He still felt the fear that struck his body when he said clear as day, 

“You’re a beastmen, aren’t you?”

He hated to admit it, but most beastmen didn’t understand even each other. You would think so, but the species were as varied as the animal kingdom. He knows a few humans had the idea Anima was a paradise for them to hold hands, but he had seen for himself that beastmen didn’t like each other a lot… 

That was what made Zero so special to him. Why he…

He closed his eyes, as Zero lovingly petted his fur, his train of thought skidded to a stop, and his heart pounded. “...It’s not every day you meet another beastmen you fall in love with.”

“Or one that made killer muffins?”

“Well, I do want another one…”

The wolf kindly picked up the plate, empty except for a little bit of melted butter.  
“Wish granted.”

Heaven was eating muffins with your wolf boyfriend, without a care of the world… 

There was no world out there for the only beastmen. There never would be. They could create them but they would never last. He knew this moment with Zero also would not. But, he snuggled into his chest, listening to his beating heart, every thump made his ears slightly adjust. It was as sweet as the muffins that rested on his tongue.  
He realized it didn’t matter if it would last. He would forever love Zero. he would forever be a beastmen. That…  
Was alright. As long as they were… together. 

X placed a small kiss on his cheek, and Zero returned it.

**Author's Note:**

> A new Chapter of Masked is going to be out soon, this was just a side project for her.


End file.
